Venice's Landmarks

-

Venice, a charming city, always remains on my mind. The Grand Canal and Gondola are unique. One can find churches, beautiful architecture of different styles elsewhere but can never find a place with a big canal dotted with palaces, beautiful and torne buildings originated in different periods.  Here you can see the golden palace Ca' D'oro, the palace of an art institute next to the Accademia Bridge, the area of Rialto Bridge, Santa Croce near the railway station, etc.  Of course, you won't miss the sight of a gondola.

Basilica San Marco, Campanile, Torre dell'Orologio, Palazzo Ducale











No one will object if these key buildings are the landmarks for Venice.  Here is the most popular place for tourists from all over the world.  It is the place for the carnival, the centre and a must see place for anyone visiting Venice.  My companion led me to a number of off beaten tracks.  One of them is the opposite shore from the San Marco Square.  We could view the square from far, an overview with ferries running through the canal. 


Many tourists should have taken similar shots of this from the San Marco Square.  But not many of them bother about the church opposite.  It is San Giorgio, a church named after a saint who killed a dragon.  The church is a masterpiece from Palladio. It exempts from Byzantine characters. The architect believed that white was the colour most appealing to God. On a sunny day one can ascend to the bell tower for an extraordinary panorama across Venice and the lagoon.  It costs 3 Euro.  It's a good value if compare to the 8 Euro charge for the campanile at the San Marco Square.


Santa Maria della Salute
I was not aware of this church during my last two visits.  When preparing this third visit, I saw a photo showing it in the night.  It's charming, like a pearl at the shore shining in the night.  I wanted to take a night shot.  But we were not very lucky with the weather or not nearby in the night.  No harm, next trip.  If you will visit Venice, it's worth walking the opposite shore to enjoy the romance and fabulous night scene.  This shot was taken from the ferry.  I bought a poster of Venice in Paris years ago.  It is framed and still hung in our living room.  It's this church painted by Monet.

4 Bridges
Not every bridge is always quoted in travel books.  The oldest and most famous is the Rialto Bridge.  Signages in Venice pointing to Rialto, San Marco, Railway Station and Accademia.  The four bridges are the main ones connecting different regions.  The newest is Ponta delle Constitutione.  It connects Cannaregio and Piazza Roma which is a major transportation hub carrying tourists and workers from the land to the lagoon.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kbal Spean

-
Image
Kbal Spean is a unique archaeological site situated 50km from the Siem Reap.   Religious stone cravings sit on the river banks and bed, 150m stretch of the Stung Kbal Spean River.     Kbal Spean is commonly known as the "Valley of a 1000 Lingas " or "The River of a Thousand Lingas". Lingas are phallic representations sacred to Brahmanism.   It is a symbol of fertility.   Hundreds of them are carved into the rock of the river.   Other carvings include gods such as Vishnu , Shiva , Brahma and animals. To appreciate the beautiful carvings in the nature, one has to climb a trek for around 30 minutes.   Exhausted but worthwhile. Reclining Vishnu is often the theme of carvings.   Others include Shiva and Uma mounted on the bull, Brahma on a lotus petal and still others which I can't figure out exactly. Animals, lingas, yoni dot here and there.            Downdream ...
Read more

Hong Kong Heritage Museum - The Hakkas and Fishing Origin

-
Image
15 June 2012 HK Heritage Museum - Hakka Women It has been more than 10 years that I haven't been to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum .  Today, a Picasso exhibition brought me back.  Hmm, a Spanish artist associating with the Chinese heritage.  It's a special event of the French May .  It drew a lot of people to the museum, though a bit remote.  People, family speaking different languages crowded at the venue.  Picasso 's paintings shown were across his different periods.  Many photos of him and friends were also shown. Hong Kong Heritage Museum is unique in providing the history of Hong Kong, featuring Hakka (Guest family) migration, as a fishing village, the traditional Cantonese opera as the integral parts of Hong Kong's heritage, history and culture. During the reign of Yongzheng and Qianlong of Qing Dynasty (18th century), people were encouraged to utilise wasteland for farming.  A big demographic shift of residen...
Read more

Marshal Zen Garden Beitou 北投少帥禪園

-
Image
Marshal Zen Garden was built during the Japanese-colonised period of the 1920's.  It was renowned for the hot spring and was used as the entertainment hub of the Japanese pilots during the end of the World War II. In the 1960's, it was used to confine Marshal Chang Xue-liang and his wife Zhao Di. We checked in in our hotel Double Inn and was driven there.  The environment is very soothing with a lot of green, flowers and typical Japanese set up. We first enjoyed our afternoon tea after travelling straight from Alishan to Chiayi to Taipei. You can visit the Zen Garden if you hold a booking of  the tour, hot spring or restaurant. It was very nice to enjoy the afternoon in its tea house  小六茶舖. It's cosy and the food was superb, good value for the money. NTD900 for two. Marshal Chang and his wife were detained at the Zen Garden for decades.  Though it was years ago, the exhibition of his room, photos and his life made me feel...
Read more